Francis Ford Coppola had purchased an abandoned property in the remote highlands of western Cayo district, Belize. He opened Blancaneaux Lodge in 1993, without destroying the natural beauty in the process. The lodge cottages are private, with huge decks and mesh windows letting the night air circulate.

The Maroma Resort is a top class resort, built in the style of the old Mexican haciendas. The hotel is made up of a series of huts with roofs made of palm leaves. The resort set along 25 acres of beachfront on Mexico’s Riviera Maya, just a 20 minute taxi ride from the Cancun airport.

The Great Blue Hole is geographical phenomenon situated 60 miles off the mainland of Belize. There are numerous blue holes around the world but none as stunning as this one. The whole is part of the Lighthouse Reef System and lies approximately 60 miles off the mainland out of Belize City. The centre of the hole is very large, almost perfect circular hole, approximately one quarter of mile (4km across). Inside the hole the water is 480 feet (145 m) deep.

Meditating while smeared with clay and honey at a Tulum resort. Photo: Michael Nagle for The New York Times

The world of luxury travel may have anointed Riviera Maya as the “It” destination du jour, but just south of this location in Tulum is where action of a different kind takes place. One that touches the soul, through meditation and breathing exercises. Yes, we’re talking YOGA, and the area of Tulum has in recent years evolved into a must-go Yoga Destination. The following is an excerpt of a New York Times travel article a few years back that first saw this trend.

Cerro Negro is a volcano in Nicaragua, about 10km from the village of Malpasillo. Cerro Negro is a very new volcano, the youngest one in Central America. This fresh magma landmark offers a sudden experience through a roughly 1,600- foot volcanic slope, having air-rushing trajectory previously occupied by you and your volcano board.

The hottest trend in hotel design today seems to stem for people’s inclination toward anything eco-friendly. Rustic lodges that don palapa or thatch roofs seem to be passé, so architects and designers are drumming up eco-conscious hotels and resorts that continue to make bolder design statements. And who said that geometric angular shapes are the exclusive domains of urban boutique hotels? V Hotel outside of Yelapa in Mexico, begs to differ.